Festive Pumpkin Dip

I'm back!  I apologize for my serious lack of posts last month.  December is a crazy time of preparing for the holidays and celebrating the holidays and all.  I had so much going on, and so much on my mind, that I had little time or energy to dedicate to blogging.  

I wanted to share with you one of my favorite recipes from the holiday season.  It was introduced to me by my good friend Danielle.  She made it for a party and brought me the recipe because she knew I would want to blog about it.  She was SO right!  I ended up making it for two family gatherings over the holidays, and it got rave reviews.

It's a pumpkin dip, and you all know how much I adore pumpkin.  Me and pumpkin...we're tight.  Amazingly, though, nobody knows there is pumpkin in this dip unless you tell them.  It tastes like a taco dip, and it is oh so yummy!

Festive Pumpkin Dip

Ingredients: 

12 ounces cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

2 Tablespoons taco seasoning

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/3 cup dried beef (I used beef jerky and chopped it up in a mini food processor.)

1/3 cup chopped green pepper

1/3 cup chopped red pepper

1 can sliced ripe olives (I also chopped these up in the mini food processor.)

Italian bread, crackers, pretzels, or veggies

Directions:

1.  Beat cream cheese using an electric mixer until smooth.  Add pumpkin and beat until combined.  Add taco seasoning and garlic powder and beat until mixture is smooth.

2.  Stir in remaining ingredients.

3.  Chill before serving.

Source:  Danielle